Seat Belt Connector

ABSTRACT

A seat belt connector has a tongue and a protection. The tongue has an insertion portion formed on a front end, a tongue hole formed through the insertion portion and a handle mounted on a rear end of the tongue. The protection is mounted between the insertion portion of tongue and the handle. The protection can cover gaps formed between an opening of a buckle and the tongue and thereby prevent sand, debris or muddy water from entering a casing of the buckle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a seat belt connector, especially to a seat belt connector that prevents infiltration of muddy water, debris or sand into a buckle.

2. Description of the Related Art

A conventional seat belt mainly comprises a retractor, webbing, a connector and a buckle. The webbing is usually connected to a retractor mounted in a car. The connector is attached to the webbing. The buckle is mounted beside a seat of the car, has a latching mechanism and is to be coupled to the connector to latch the seat belt. When a moving vehicle crashes or has an emergency brake, the retractor will lock so a driver or a passenger is positioned on the seat and safe.

Seat belts are commonly available in most vehicles. However, some vehicles, like dune buggies or All Terrain Vehicles, are mainly driven on sand, mud or riverbeds. Once muddy water, debris or sand enter the vehicle, it may easily infiltrate into the buckle from a gap between the connector and an opening of the buckle despite the connector latching with the buckle. Once debris or sand infiltrates and accumulates in the buckle, it will inhibit actuation of the latching mechanism and may cause latching malfunction, especially in situation of muddy water drying into solid.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a seat belt connector in order to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide a seat belt connector that prevents infiltration of muddy water, debris or sand into a buckle.

The seat belt connector comprises a tongue and a protection. The tongue has an insertion portion formed on a front end, a tongue hole formed through the insertion portion and a handle mounted on a rear end of the tongue. The protection is mounted between the insertion portion of tongue and the handle.

The protection can cover gaps formed between an opening of a buckle and the tongue and thereby prevents sand, debris or muddy water from entering a casing of the buckle.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seat belt connector of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the seat belt connector in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional side view of the seat belt connector in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an operational perspective view of the seat belt connector in FIG. 1 showing connection to a buckle;

FIG. 5 is a side plan view in partial section of the seat belt connector in FIG. 1 showing connection to a buckle;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view showing two seat belt connectors of the present invention connected to a buckle; and

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing multiple seat belt connectors of the present invention connected to a buckle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a seat belt connector (1) in accordance with the present invention comprises a tongue (10) and a protection (12).

The tongue (10) has a front end, a rear end, an insertion portion (102), a tongue hole (103) and a handle (11). The rear end is opposite to the front end. The insertion portion (102) is formed on the front end. The tongue hole (103) is formed through the insertion portion (102). The handle (11) is mounted on the rear end of the tongue (10).

The protection (12) is mounted between the insertion portion (102) and the handle (11) of the tongue (10) to cover a gap between the tongue (10) and an opening of a buckle. The protection (12) may be integrally formed on an end of the handle (11). The protection (12) may further have a front surface facing toward the insertion portion (102) and an insertion protrusion (121) formed on the front surface. The insertion protrusion (121) is used to insert into the opening of the buckle to enhance sand-proof function.

With further reference to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the seat belt connector (1) is connected to seat belt webbing (3) using the handle (11) and is detachably mounted in a buckle (2) using the tongue (10). The buckle (2) has a casing (20), a latching mechanism mounted in the casing (20), an opening (21) formed on the casing (20) and a release button (22) mounted on the casing (20). When connecting the seat belt connector (1) to the buckle (2), the insertion portion (102) of the tongue (10) is inserted into the opening (21) and the tongue hole (103) is latched by the latching mechanism. The tongue (10) is then retained in the casing (20). As the release button (22) is pressed, the insertion portion (102) is released from the latching mechanism and can be pulled out from the buckle (2).

The protection (12) can cover gaps formed between the opening (21) and the tongue (10) and thereby prevents sand, debris or muddy water from entering the casing (20) of the buckle (2). The insertion protrusion (121) is inserted into the opening (21) for enhancing sand-proof function of the protection (12). Therefore, latching function of the latching mechanism is maintained without being inhibited actuation by sand or muddy water.

With further reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, the buckle (2) may be implemented to have multiple openings (21) for connection with multiple seat belt connectors (2).

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

1. A seat belt connector comprising: a tongue having a front end; a rear end opposite to the front end; an insertion portion formed on the front end; a tongue hole formed through the insertion portion; a handle mounted on the rear end of the tongue; and a protection mounted between the insertion portion of the tongue and the handle.
 2. The seat belt connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the protection is integrally formed on an end of the handle.
 3. The seat belt connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the protection further has a front surface facing toward the insertion portion of the tongue; and an insertion protrusion formed on the front surface.
 4. The seat belt connector as claimed in claim 2, wherein the protection further has a front surface facing toward the insertion portion of the tongue; and an insertion protrusion formed on the front surface. 